On my way to Subway the other day, the rants and raves of a multitude of protesters emanated from Farragut Square Park, but one in particular caught my ear. I looked up to see a sandal-clad, pony tail-haired, ripped cargo shorts-sporting hippie kid appearing from an alleyway. Blocking the progress of hungry professionals he asked, "Do you care about the environment?" Like any of the other "activists" that think they are doing something that matters, he was more or less ignored, and for good reason. He was dressed like a slob, ran out in front of people on their way to and from lunch, asked the most absurd questions and shoved, for lack of a better term, "literature" in their faces. Before I even reached him, the subject of this column began formulating in my mind.
That subject is the general ineffectiveness of protests, activism and the all too often touted as "changing the world" approach of shoving pieces of paper at hot, sweaty, tired businesspeople. Not only is political activism of this kind an everyday occurrence in Farragut Square, but I would also assume it thrives in other business hubs all across the country. Let us examine these two traits of the modern day protest: they occur every day, and they take place in business districts.
Daily protests and activism may seem to be a sign that a movement is strong, well organized and goal-oriented, but appearances can be deceiving. If one person is outside of the Farragut North Metro asking people, "Do you want to stop George Bush from polluting our water?" his movement is neither driven nor strong. Rather, daily protests reveal that nothing is actually getting accomplished. If anything were, there would be fewer protests and less protesters of the above derelict description. It seems, however, that they are always there. Same issues, all year. Is it a losing battle, or an already lost one, unbeknownst to the "out to save the world from scum like you" activists? If one person hands out water pollution pamphlets every day for a year, it isn't activism. It's atrophy.
Why is it that protest and activism always find their way to business centers, as in the case of K Street here in D.C.? The reason for this is rather obvious. It just so happens that this is where most people are during business hours. Surprisingly, unlike our activist friends, most people actually go to a place for eight or more hours a day, and that place is called work. If you talk to anyone interning for any of the million or so political action organizations in D.C., they will tell you that street activism is their job, but is it really a job? I cannot emphasize enough that it is not. For proof, let us return to our friend asking if we care about the environment. He was wearing flip flops, cut up cargo shorts, a raggedy t-shirt, had hair down to the middle of his back in a pony tail, was covered in sweat, and was stopping as many people as he could in the street for more than a second, thrusting at them a handful of papers that everyone knows will be thrown into the next trashcan (nope, they won't even be recycled). This is not a job. This person does not look employed, but here he is, working to bother people who actually do go to work everyday.
Back on the street, I hoped that he wouldn't ask me if I cared about the environment. Not because I was afraid to speak my mind, and not even because I didn't want to talk to him. I hoped he wouldn't come near me because he looked like he would smell bad, and this seems to be a common theme with people who have "literature" that you have to read. Contrary to my hopes of avoiding queasiness, he approached me. I had so many things that I wanted to say: "You aren't doing anything. Get a job. You are wasting your time. The environment is very low on most people's priority list. Cut your hair." These things and many others would have been effective and made him angry, but a one-sentence response to his question would do the job and more than likely be something he never heard before.
My response: "No. I don't care about the environment."
Jeremy Schneider is a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences and is majoring in philosophy.
